Sallie Krawcheck’s arrival at Bank of America to run the massive brokerage shop is doing little to soothe badly frayed nerves at the bank’s most important division.

In fact, brokers say the hiring of the ex-Citigroup CFO — the third such change in less than a year — is particularly aggravating because she’s succeeding the well-respected Dan Sontag, who announced his retirement earlier this week.

Sontag was viewed as a “broker’s broker” who came up through the ranks to lead the group, known as the thundering herd, while Krawcheck is viewed as an outsider.

And though she briefly ran Citi’s wealth-management business, some BofA brokers question whether she’ll be able to shine when managing a high-maintenance, sprawling network like the one BofA inherited when it acquired Merrill Lynch.

Before Sontag got the job, Bob McCann ran the unit. McCann left shortly after the merger closed.

BofA, which has suffered a steady exodus of top brokers to competitors since the bank completed its merger with Merrill last year, has been aggressively pitching Krawcheck as a friend to brokers who while at Citi locked horns with brass in defense of her team.

But to many, Krawcheck is first and foremost a former analyst who on paper may not have the chops to manage a major brokerage force like the one BofA inherited from Merrill, which has been mired in turmoil.

Merrill’s brokers have had to endure what many have seen as slights to their venerable image — among them BofA management’s decision to do away with the iconic bull on business cards.

“From my perspective, I’m feeling more and more distant from [Bank of America],” one broker told The Post.

“It’s not terrible and it’s not that it’s bad for the clients, but all the moves make me want to find more stable circumstances,” added another financial adviser. “It’s like BofA has a target on its back.”

At one time seen as the woman most likely to run a big Wall Street outfit, Krawcheck, 44, sparred for months with Citi Chief Executive Vikram Pandit before leaving the beleaguered bank.

Now, though, with this promotion, Krawcheck is seen by some as the lone woman survivor, after the careers of former Morgan Stanley exec Zoe Cruz and ex-Lehman CFO Erin Callan faded during the financial collapse.

Krawcheck left Citi last fall with a severance package worth $11.7 million. She was a protégé of former Citi chief Sandy Weill.

As head of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., she had been famously dubbed “The Last Honest Analyst” by Fortune magazine.